Railway-telegraph



(N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-,-Sh'eet 1. J F. J. CROUCH.

RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. No. 402,408. Patented Apr. 30, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. CROUCH, OF OAKLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO O. P. HOUSTON,

OF JUNCTION CITY, OREGON.

RAI LWAY-TELEG RAPl-l.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,408, dated April 30, 1889.

' Application filed January 21, 1887. erial No. 225,038. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. CROUCH, of Oakland, Douglas county, State of Oregon, have invented an Improvement in Railway- Telegraphy; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same. 1

My invention relates to a system of railway telegraphy and signals; and it consists of devices whereby communication may be made between fixed stations along the line of the railway and between trains moving upon the track between the stations. My system also admits of intercommunication between said fixed stations, moving trains, and any points intermediate between the fixed stations by means of portable telegraphic or signaling apparatus, all of which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse section of a central rail used with my system with the line-conductors mounted thereon and the contact wheel for carrying the current of the moving train. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side View showing the contact-wheel running upon the central rail and carried by one of the cars of the train, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing anumber of stations along the line of railway equipped for transmission and reception of signals and connected with the line-conductors.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts all throughout the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown 'a wooden rail, A, which is lo- Gated between the trafficnails. It is in the main rectangular in cross section, with the two upper edges beveled, and contact-plates F F secured upon these beveled faces, as shown.

Below these beveled faces on each side of the rail there is formed an inclined slot, E, all along the rail, the purpose of which isto prevent the moisture from the ground from creeping up by capillary action to the contact-plates, so that the latter may be fairly insulated from the ground in damp weather."

In the upper face of the rail A is formed a groove, B, and in this groove is placed the central conductor, 0, which is well insulated, and, after insertion into the groove the latter is filled with some insulating material which securely embeds said central conductor, and the top of the rail is then faced with a strip,

D, of wood or other suitable material, which is curved on its upper face and extends over the upper edges of the contact-strips, forming, as it were, a roof for the same. As will hereinafter be seen, this central conductor runs the whole length of the line of railway, and is not handled when the electrical connections are made to the signaling-stations along earth used as the return, as is well understood by those skilled in the art.

Carried upon one of the cars of thetrain is the contaot-wheel L,which is journaled in the rectangular frame M,which in turn is pivoted upon a bracket, T, depending from the under side of the car. Fig. 2, and by reference to said figure of the drawings it will also be seen that one end of the frame M" is cut away and that this portion is replaced by springs R B, so that the wheelframe M, which may rise and fall vertically or strips F F, so that whatever current is supplied to these contact-strips it may be carried by the disks or flanges composing the Wheel L and by the trunnions of the latter to the signaling instrument carried upon the car. This connection is shown in Fig. 2. It is effected by the metallic brushes or contact plates N, secured to the frame M and electrically connected with the trunnions.

these brushes or contact-plates N electric con' nection is made with binding posts 0 Q, mounted upon frame M, and from these binding-posts the current is carried to telegraphic or signaling apparatus P, suitably located in the car, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2.

The wheel L may be lowered intov contact This is clearly shown in From with contact strips or plates F F by the manipulation of a bell-crank lever, V, carrying a gravity-pawl which engages a segmental ratchet-bar, V. For this purpose one end of the bell-crank lever is connected by link U with the frame M.

In the position of the bell-crank lever shown in Fig. 2 the wheel L is in contact with the plates F F; but if thelever is turned toward the left the wheel will be raised out of c011- tact with the strips FF and will be locked in this position by the pawl engaging the teeth of the ratchet-bar NV. The connection between the bell-crank lever and the frame M by means of the link U is quite loose, so that the frame may slightly move laterally about the springs B, so that the contactwheel may accommodate itself to the turnings of the road and will not be dragged out of contact with the strips F F at sharp turnings. This being the equipment of the train, it remains to be shown how the same is utilized in my system for transmitting signals either to other trains similarly equipped or to fixed signal-stations along the road. This is fully illustrated in Fig. 3, in which the central conductor, 0, is shown as extending uninterruptedly from one end of the road to the other, while the contact-plates F F are shown in sections extending from one signalstation to the other, but interrupted at such stations. Three signaling-stations are shown in Fig. 3, and for convenience of reference they are marked a, l), and c. It will, however, be understood that any number of such signaling-stations may belocated along the road.

At the terminal station a there is a battery, X, and a telegraphic or other signaling apparatus, P, adapted to transmit and receive signals. This instrument is connected with one pole of the battery by a wire, d, and by a wire, 6, with one of the contact-strips F. The other pole is either permanentlyconnected with the central conductor, C, by the wire f or is grounded by such wire. The other stations, b c, &c., are each provided with a similar telegraphic instrument, P, and with a resistancecoil, g, and these two devices are connected in series by a wire, 71, and with the adjoining sections of the contact-strips F by the wire 1' on one side and switch on the other side.

From the connecting-wire h a conductor, Z, is carried to the contact-strip F on the section of road 011 the left-hand side as looked upon in the drawings, so that starting from the terminal station at every succeeding station has the connectingvire h between the telegraphic instrument and the resistancecoil connected with the contact-strip F of the preceding section. At or beyond the last station on the road-in this case beyond the station c-the contact-strip F is permanently connected with the central conductor, 0, by a wire, m.

It will now be easily seen that by operating any one of the signaling-instruments P, permanently installed along the line, all the/ other signaling-instruments will respond, for the current will pass from one pole of the battery X, over wire (I, through instrument P at station a, by wire @,-to and along contactstrip F, extending between stations a and I), by the switch k at that station, through the resistance-coil g, connecting-wire h, signalinginstrument P at station I), the connectingwire 1?, &c., through all the other stations, and then by the permanent connection m, central conductor, 0, back to the other pole of the battery, it being understood that all these instruments P are kept in a closed circuit, so that the breaking of the circuit in any one of the signaling apparatus will cause the others to respond. This being the arrangement of the system, it will now be seen that if the train equipped in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 passes over the road with the contact-flanges L L of wheel L bearing upon contact-strips F F signals may be transmitted from said train to all the stations on the road and may be received from all such stations.

In Fig. 3 a train is supposed to be traveling on the section of road between stations I) and c, the signaling-instrument P carried by said train being shown connected with the contact-strips in the conventional manner. In this case the current, after having passed the instrument P at station Z) and continued over a part of contact-strip F, will pass by flange L of the contact-wheel and the connecting-wire shown, through signaling-instrument P carried on the train, and by the other contact-fiange L, over contact-strip F, and by the connection Z at station 0 and connectingwire h through the instrument P at that station, &c., returning by the central conductor, 0, as before, thus short-circuiting the resistance-coil g at station 0.

At the first signal received at station a the attendant or operator there may open the switch 70, thus cutting the resistance-coil entirelyout of circuit. This, however, is not absolutely necessary, for the resistance of the traveling signaling-instrument will be much lower than that of the resistance-coil at any station.

In case the track-walker should find it necessary to send a signal to the stations along the road, or to the trains which at that time may be on the road, all he has to do is to tap the two contact-strips F F by the terminals of the portable telegraphic or other signaling apparatus, when he will be in condition to transmit and receive signals in the same manner as the train on the road.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a system of railway-telegraphy, a central rail of insulating material located between the traffic-rails of the road,having a continuous main conductor embedded therein, and sectional contact-plates fixed on bevels formed on the upper edges of the rail, in combination with a roof or water-shed over the top of the rail and partly extending overv the contact-plates, and a longitudinally-inclined slot in each side of the rail for preventing the moisture of the ground from reaching the contact-rails, substantially as described.

2. In a system of railway-telegraphy, the

' combination of a central rail of insulating material extending between the traflic-rails of the, road and having a continuous main conductor embedded therein, andsectionalcontact-plates fixedon bevels formed on the upper edges of the rail, Witha contact-wheel carried upon a car of a train ina hinged frame, a lever fulcrurned in the car, and connections of the same with the frame for. raising the wheel out-of contact with the contactplates and for loweringthe same to establish contact, substantially as described.

3. In a system of railwaytelegraphy, the

combination of an insulated main conductor and two sectional contactplates extending between the traffic-rails of the road with a hinged frame upon a car traveling upon the road, having a contact-wheel mounted therein accommodate themselves to the curves of the road. substantially as described.

I 4. In a system of railway telegraphy, the combination of a continuous main conductor and two sectional lines of contact-plates extending between the traffic-rails of the road, and signal-stations equipped with telegraphic apparatus and a resistance-coillocated at the breaks in the sections of contact-rails, bridging the continuous sections of one of these lines, and also connected with one section of the other line, with a telegraphic outfit and a battery at one end of the road bridging the main conductor and the line of sectional rails bridged by the intermediate signal-stations,

WVitnessesi GEO. J. STEARNS, P. H. PINKSTON.

FRANK J. CROUCH. 1 

